Playoff Primer + Strength of Schedule League Winners - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/16

All right, Foot Clan, we have a monster show today. It's super important because if you're priming up for the playoffs, you need a playoff primer episode. We've got every position group, the best matchups, the worst matchups, how you should look at, you know, do you trade these guys away? Do you just understand that they have tough matchups? Prepare yourself for the playoffs on today's episode. Enjoy. The Fantasy Footballer Studio is brought to you by Samsung Galaxy. Visit Samsung.com to learn more. To the Fantasy Footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. Wednesday, November 16th. Andy Mike and Jason, the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Back with you. Big, big show.

Playoff Primer episode. The producers back at full strength. The Borgogan, the judge, and Al back in the building. Say something, Al. What's up, Phuklan? There you go. You put the camera on, you guys, and you're just, well, we'll just sit here. Hey, I waved. From what I understand is sometimes... The podcast audience can't hear you wave. They also can't see that camera. Oh, good counter. Yeah, but there's just silence. Do something. Dance puppet. I'll be better. Dance puppet. Yeah, no, I mean, I think that there's a sense that none of them want to be the alpha of the Ducer's Allen. We all know who it is, though, right guys? Oh, for sure. Yeah, yeah. We all know. It's Brooks. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. It's supposed to say it. The biggest bank account wins the day. Playoff primer today. We're going to be talking about the each position group best.

stretches or best playoff matchups. This is big stuff. And worst. And I think it's going to tease out a lot of conversation about what you do with certain players because I don't know. I have questions. So I'm looking forward to it. Thursday night preview today. NFL news to talk about, including some blast from the past player news, which is fun. Yeah. Reminder to everybody out there, we will be live on Spotify 3 p.m. Pacific, 6 p.m. Eastern, as we are every single Wednesday. for Spotify Live, the party room. Oh, baby. And look, the Megalodon episode is coming soon as well. Oh. Thank you. Oh. Wait, that's one week from today. That is. One week from today. Guys, I need to go to sleep. Oh, mercy. Yeah. Oh, wow. That was a little creepy. It's like a villain. Yeah. Which is, you know, that's fair. Al, we do need to make sure we've got the smelling salts on hand. Oh, yeah. For the episode. Halfway through.

Of course. They're always within arm's reach. Are they? You have them over there? They're behind this curtain. Okay. So technically, yes, but it would be a bit of an ordeal. Like, if you give me your arm and three other arms, I can connect them and then reach them. So smelling salts, energy drinks, and we'll have the Megalodon episode. If you're new to the show, next Wednesday, ahead of Thanksgiving weekend, we got a supersized episode. It's basically the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday show all wrapped into one. And it's the show of the year. What is this? Like, hopefully if you listen while you work out, you're going to get a good pump that day. Oh, yeah. And if you listen while you mow the lawn, you might need to mow your neighbor's lawn. That's all I'm saying. Who does that hardcore history show? Oh, yeah, Carlin, is it? Yeah, Dan Carlin? I think that's right. Yeah, but he just, he writes us, he's like, take it easy over there. Right, because he's got the, what, the four, five, six hour shows. And he's like, goodness, that's a long podcast. Yeah, yeah, our hosting fees will be extensive.

But Brooks will cover them. Yeah. Current Megalobole leader right now. The shark from Jaws 3D cannot be stopped. 20 and 0. Wow. 16. This is either just a glorious story of the shark from Jaws 3D cruising through the entire Megalibal as the champion, which the fact that it's a shark related name in the megal ball, I'm not saying. I'm just saying. There's a little causation here for sure. So it's either an incredible story or the shark from Jaws 3D thinks they're hot stuff and it just loses at the end. There are 20,000 people in this thing. How could it be the same person every week? I'm rooting for you at this point, the shark from Jaws 3D. 20 and O, very impressive. To lose in round one. Ha ha ha ha ha. I shall win.

But I do encourage everybody who is playing in the Mega Bowl to go to Megalobol.com. Make sure you know what's going on with league rules heading into the playoffs so we don't get as many emails saying, wait, I didn't know this was happening. We've had the rules there the whole year. Yeah. You know what was happening. If you can read. And if you're listening now, the rules are pretty simple. The trade deadline is shown in your league. That's about to happen. And waivers lock when playoffs start. And playoffs are 15, 16, 17. Prepare yourself. Top three teams from each league get into the playoffs, not the top six. All right. Let's do some ride or die. Ride or die presented by Chevrolet. I did just realize something. The podcast listenership, those that aren't watching the show will not be able to see this. But we may need to update the ride or die graphic. I don't know. I think it's actually really good because it's like you can ride with Pittman. Okay. Who was in that beautiful Chevy with me.

You're going to have Breece Hall. And this is ride or die. Okay. Maybe you're right. Yeah, you're just dropping him off at the hospital. Right. Just recover quick. You ever been in an ambulance? Thousands of dollars. A ride from Jason and a hot Chevy? Yeah. Free. All right. Oh, I'm doing this for free now. Mike, I mean, he'll chip it for gas. Thank you. Mike went undefeated last week on ride or die. All right. We did it. I would have as well. No, I don't know if Juju was going to get there, but he got hurt. It knocked me out of it. And pretty good showing last week from the three of us. Yep. Week 11 right or die, Brooksie. What do we got? All right, guys. We're starting with Chris Olabe versus the Rams. Will he be a top 16 fantasy wide out? And we chose 16 because earlier in the season he hit that mark four weeks in a row, but has not done it in the past three weeks.

I mean, honestly, it has 100% to do with whether I think the team has the courage to go back to James Winston. They do not. According to Nick Underhill this morning, he said that he would be surprised if it is not Dalton as the starter. That's not a guarantee, but he's a very plugged in beatwriter. What are they seeing? What are they seeing from Dalton? We're like, this is so much better. Interceptions. Sacks taken? Are these stats that they want? Like, I mean, Dalton. No, I'm saying this about Dalton. I'm agreeing with you. Oh, okay. Dalton either throws an interception. I thought you were, I thought you were clowning on James. No, look, I'm on team James. I think it's better for Alave. I think it's better for me. Me? It's better for the Saints, but the Saints are in a lost season spiral as well. So I don't know what it is. The report before Underhill, before I heard that one was,

Look, they're going to go back and check with the staff to see if his, you know, the back and I think is the ankle, like some combination of injuries is enough to let him play. So Andy Dalton, since taking over as a starter, is two and five. I'm going to have to go die. If that report leans to Dalton, I don't think Dalton can get Olave over top 16. It stinks. Yeah, I would agree with you. I will choose die as well. I'm going to take the field here. Alave is a great wide receiver, but the Saints are kind of spiraling, and so I'll take the field. If you want a case in the other direction, Mike, a lot of really good wide receivers on by this week. Waddle, Hill, Metcalf, Lockett. Sure. So maybe more room to slide. It's Evans, Godwin. It's a strong case, but we're going to triple die. Well, then I'll change the ride.

I made the case to my out loud and then I convinced myself. The old thing is just trying to encourage yourself as you play a Chrysalave for yet another week. Yeah, I mean, what are you going to do? I can bench Chris Olive. Yeah, you're probably not. It's not like these have been. His games have not been disasters. No. I mean, 22 instead of the top 16. 59 last week, though. All right. Brooksie, what do we have for our second ride or die? All right, guys. Darnal Mooney. versus the Falcons. Can he get to just 10 fantasy points this week? You know that he can. Oh, you're riding? Oh, that's ride, Mr. Mooney. I'm going to go die. Mr. Mooney? Yeah, I'm with you. I think that in order. I'm with the most recent speaker, which is you, Andy. There has been once this season, I believe, where he has crossed that threshold without a touchdown, but I think he's going to need a touchdown to get there.

And those touchdowns, they belong. Look, those are down in Kokomo. That's where those touchdowns are. No, they're not. They're actually someplace else this week. Oh, okay. Is this a David Montgomery pro? Nope. This is just, no, running backs can't score. Just Justin Fields. Chase, Claypool. Oh. Scores this. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Where is this coming from, you monster? Wait a minute. Done. What? I have to put money on Chase Claypool now? Done deal. Wow. This is shocking. Chase Claypool into the end zone. Okay. Look, it's not up to me. Right. You are you are just the vessel. I'm the vessel from the message. And Chase Claypool, he's got to be plus two something, right? I mean, it's got to, he had one reception last game. He had eight yards. His snaps went down. Yeah, it's going to be really interesting because he's going to get into the end zone this week.

Amazing. Amazing. I mean, well, they can't even bet it yet. I'll say, because they're waiting for my word. They both can't. Mooney and Claypool because look, the Atlanta Falcons, hashtag bad. Kurt Cousins. What's the line you have for us, Brooksie? Top 12 quarterback versus Dallas. No. You can't make me. I think we're all going to go die on this. You better change that line. We got to move this line. Who is going to blink first? He's been top 12 and five of nine games, which is why Brooksie threw that line out there. But Dallas, formidable defense. Top 15. I'm dying. Yeah, I'll die. Top. Wait, wait. Does that mean you're? I'm setting the line over here. Don't ask me questions. Set the line exactly where you think that you'll ride. Yeah. And then where will you ride? Yeah. 17. I will die. I would have rode at 18. All right. I'll ride with you, Mike. All right. I'll ride at 17.

You guys got that? Okay. So yeah, Kurt Cousins. The Dallas defense, I mean, they just, you know, they just gave up some points this past week. Oh, you could definitely do it. I mean, there's a need. You know, Dallas should be able to put up some points on, on Minnesota as well. So it could definitely happen. They are, the Minnesota Vikings are the weirdest team. They're just, they play exactly the way that the other team plays. So I guess that should turn into a top 17 performance. All right. That was right or I presented by Chevy Silverado. Learn more about Chevy Silverado at Chevy.com. Let's talk news. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. The big news is what's going to happen to my Twitter timeline when Chase Claypool scores a touchdown on Sunday. Prepare yourself. If he gets a touchdown, I will literally be frightened of you for the rest of my life.

I mean, that will be terrifying. I mean, great news from my for my dino bench and to my starting roster. Oh, are you moving them in? I played him last week. Oh, okay. So you've, it wasn't great. All right. The Eagles tight end Dallas got her. Unfortunately, is going to miss extended time of the shoulder injury. We were just talking yesterday about after Kelsey Andrews, who's the next best tight end? I changed my answer. It's not Dallas Goddard, who is now out. It is slim picking. Is it, you know, Dalton Schultz, I think is legitimately my three. It could be. Bummer. Yeah. Is this going to hurt Jalen Hertz? Yeah. Yeah, of course it's going to hurt Jalen Hertz. So we, you know, a lot of times you're tempted with mobile rushing quarterbacks to say, oh, well, you know, maybe he'll run more. No, that's, that's nonsense. Good quarterbacks.

who are great runners. They are even better when they're passing for a ton of touchdowns. Lamar Jackson's great, but he is not as good without Bateman as he is with Bateman. Mark Andrews. Right. Mark Andrews and all those. So, yes, losing a very valuable middle of the field weapon is bad. Now, Devontas Smith, he might get a bump up, but it's not going to be a bump up for Jalen Hertz. All right, just to, uh, Talk about the Packers briefly. They waived Amari Rogers. They designated Randall Cobb to return from IR. They signed Dee Dee Westbrook. That's one of the blasts from the past. Hey, Dee. And then ESPN reporting the Packers will, quote, continue to focus on Christian Watson as a major part of the game plan going forward. So there's your rundown of the Packers wide receiver room slash way to convince yourself to play him with confidence.

It'll be interesting here. Which I think you have to. For me, like, yeah, I'm playing Watson and I'm still playing out on Lizard, but is Rogers back into that where you're like, oh, I guess I'm playing him as a weekly top 12 guy if they truly have two good wide receivers now. I think I'd love to see it for another week and see the momentum, but yeah, it's a possibility. You're going to see it at Tennessee. I don't know about that. Rogers and Russell Wilson are two of the reasons that I was. on the die side of Kirk Cousins because I think that they are better plays this week than Kirk Cousins. Okay. Well, Cooper Cup. Yeah. He heads to IR undergoing a procedure on his high ankle sprain, what they call a tightrope procedure. The average return is six to eight weeks and not 100% until eight weeks. So you are waving goodbye to Cooper Cup, the number one receiver in fantasy.

until this injury. Yeah, you probably won't see him again this season, not just for fantasy. I don't think that the Rams will bring him back. But the fact that it's eight weeks to return to kind of full strength is a really nice timeline for any kind of fears. The Michael Thomas, whenever I see it like surgery on the ankle, I get the Michael Thomas fears. Sure. So this is a much nicer procedure. You do now have clarity because he's out so long about how this wide receiver picture is going to look in Los Angeles. Alan Robinson presumably is going to step into the Cooper Cup shoes. They don't fit. No. But he's going to get in them and try. And then Ben Skoronik will be involved in Jefferson, Tyler Higby, what Brandon Powell. Stop it. Stop with those names. So I do think that there's a chance that you see.

You know, if the target share for Alan Robinson rises, which we know Cooper Cups, like, I mean, they got to play four quarters in this, in this, and they can't run the football. So targets, they mean a lot. Yeah. So Alan Robinson could kind of be at least a floor type of PPR guy. Yeah, there will definitely be someone there of value. Higby is a tight end, so he gets, you know, a. differently weighted bump up because all you need is a few more targets or receptions to be valuable at the position. But obviously we're going to need Matthew Stafford back from the concussion protocol before I'm confident playing any of those. I know, Jason, that your brain explodes when we talk about this topic. So I'm going to talk about it. Okay. The last I saw about Matthew Stafford is that he's still in the concussion protocol and head coach Sean McVeigh.

His statement, and you guys can vet the exact quote, was something to the extent of he has not been told whether he really has a concussion or not. That was my head. What? So he's in concussion protocol, but it was something to the extent. May or may not have one. Feel free to break in, Kyle, with the quote. Do you have it? He just pasted it. Sean McVeigh has declined to say whether he has been diagnosed with a concussion. What are we doing? And here's the quote. He said, I asked why you can't say either way. And he said, that.

hasn't been communicated to me. You are the head coach of the football team. I bet you could go find out. What if part of the NFL's new policy is concussions are secrets? Keep a secret. Keep a safe. Oh, full hippa. That's right. Doc, am I going to have my quarterback this week? I cannot tell you. Shakes an eight ball. I mean, is that the new protocol? I'm bound by my oath to the medical field. I can't tell you. I mean, that's a shocking thing. What is going on? Clearly the protocol, if anything, I think it's been clear that it's independent of the team more than ever, which I think is the accountability that the league wants is that, look, the coach, the player, they're not going to have a say.

Which they shouldn't. It's the right thing. We can joke and mock because we love to do that, and it's awesome. But it's better for these players. Yes, for sure. Worse for fantasy players to understand what's happening. If the coach doesn't know, we probably don't know, maybe Matthew Stafford's bag. Maybe not right now. Vegas has them as four and a half point underdogs. So that does not tell me that. Maybe he's in Tahiti. We don't know. I don't know. Full HIPAA. Yeah. Here's big news, guys. Khalil Herbert, who has been the more efficient runner in Chicago on IR with a hip injury. Oh, my. Oh, my. David Montgomery. We're going to talk about him today in the playoff preview. The speed at which they ruled him out in the game. It matters. And it mattered here. He's seriously hurt. So he will miss at least four weeks. And, I mean.

With the, again, just like the Rams, the Bears are out of it. And in four weeks, why do you bring him back? Maybe you see if he's okay to go because the Bears have a very big decision. David Montgomery is a free agent after this year. And everything was trending that they're, I mean, if I'm running the Chicago Bears seeing the way that Khalil Herbert is playing, I would let David Montgomery go and let someone else pay him. Let Khalil Herbert take over. So that's a very tough decision for dynasty players. What's going on there? Yeah, the last month, you've got over 11 carries per game for Khalil Herbert. And David Montgomery is obviously in the past and even this season has been the like bell cow type of running back that can handle the extra volume on his play. I would expect him to have a lot of usage going forward. Yeah, and Tristan Ebner is the backup who will get snaps. I will say that's a minimum four weeks for Khalil.

His injury could end up being much longer. Yeah, but if you're in a, I mean, probably not even a real deep redraft league, are you worried about Ebner? But Dynasty waivers, he might be out there. And you never know. He's now the backup. And he's, David Montgomery missed his time. Ebner is the next man up. All right. We have news on Najee Harris. Mike Tomlin said he's experiencing knee discomfort to go along with my eye discomfort and watching him run. Hey. Sorry. That wasn't very nice. And maybe this is part of the issue, but he doesn't expect it to prevent him from playing on Sunday. But the writing's on the wall, like more opportunities for Jalen Warren should be coming simply based on where this team is out right now. I would agree. All right. That was rare. That was a pump fake. Rare dead silence here on the podcast. Eno Benjamin, released by the Cardinals. The Texans claimed him.

This is interesting. You know? Yeah. Because Damian Pierce has been getting everything for the Houston Texans. The addition of a running back at this time, I think you have to at least raise an eyebrow of where the Texans do they want somebody else to at least take some of the work away from Damian Pierce and they can't rely on Rex Burkhead. My eyebrows are both very low. Okay. Jason, are you raising any of your eyebrows for? I'll raise one eyebrow, yeah. I'm not saying he's taking over, but if, like, Damien Pierce on a bad team, it drops down to the 18 carries instead of the 20 plus that he's getting, that's a big difference. I think you'll have a few touches. And in the passing game, you know, Rex Burkhead is just completely.

unusable. And so you've got a player here in, you know, Benjamin that, you know, over the last month, month and a half and the NFL's been getting three, four, five, seven targets. He's a valuable player. He immediately becomes one of the best offensive players on the roster. So I don't, I don't think he's going to come in here and just split time, but I would agree that he'll, he'll take three, four touches away a game. And the, another just kind of. The Seahawks went in on him, by the way. You know who else did? Who? The Kansas City Chiefs tried to pick him up. They were going to replace Clyde Edwards Allaire with Eno Benjamin. Yeah, I, I, nobody out here in Arizona really understands the, on the surface without the kind of, uh,

Interpersonal dynamics. Nobody understands it from a talent perspective. Why he was jettisoned. We might see a little bit of insight. They are on the in-season hard knocks. And so you cut a player like that. Oh, they're scrubbing that. Maybe, maybe, but that's often what gets shown is. No, that'd be interesting. And come on, gentlemen, let's finish the news. Yes. David Johnson. Oh, David Johnson. That is going to be the last time you never get to say it. But I'm thrilled for the man because I know this guy works very, very hard. The Saints have signed David Johnson to the practice squad. You burned bright, David. Yeah, man. He is. I mean, from being out here, we've spent time with him. Like, it's incredible what these athletes have to do with, you know, at this stage of his career, he's working out every day putting film together just for a shot. So.

Go get them, DJ. We missed you. All right, that was today's news notes, brought to you by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. Quick break, and then we're back with the playoff primer. Before we jump into the primer, I do want to congratulate both of you. It's been literally years since that David Johnson refrain came out of your lips. Perfect, perfect unison. The muscle memory was strong. That was so impressive, right now? I mean, that was good stuff. Yeah, I actually think that might have been our best one ever. I felt I was transported back to my young 30s. Yes, and that was so good it may get him off the practice squad under the active roster. Let's go. It won't, but. We can dream. But he did not get off the practice squad. Into the primer we go. Playoff primer. All right, couple disclaimers at the top.

Playoff matchups are not everything, right? They are a piece of the puzzle. They're not going to have you benching your elite studs because of a bad matchup. They're going to inform you. And if you have that information, even if you're still playing them in bad matchups, it helps you construct your roster for the playoffs because you know certain great players in very difficult matchups. Maybe they aren't sealing players that week or you can't at least bank on a ceiling. So then you can build your roster out. the other way. So, boy, you know, last year, 2021, there were some league winners that came out of nowhere. Trey Lance was the quarterback 10. Yeah, it was. Against Houston in championship week. Russell Wilson, the quarterback two against Detroit in championship week. Let's remember Rushad Penny. Oh, let's remember him. Playoff run.

Devin Singletary, the RB two during the playoff. Sony Michelle. Yes. You hear that out? Sonny Michelle winning championships last year. Oh, he did. Rashad Penny sucks. That's fine. But Rashad Penny, Sony Michelle, I mean, Jason and I and our co-managed Dynasty League. We, I mean, just the full piggybacked on Penny, Jason, Sony Michelle carrying him right to a championship. It was glorious. And Alman Ross St. Brown, the playoff king. Yes. Arizona, Atlanta, Seattle last year. We knew the schedule, and he dominated. Thank you. There he is. So let's start at the quarterback position, guys. Fantasy playoff weeks are 15 through 17 in most leagues, unless you play in a league that has a week 18 championships. Don't do that. Which, I'm sorry. Yeah, we highly recommend to not do that because at the end of the year, you're going to have people that got you there like Josh out.

maybe not Josh Allen because they're not winning as many games as you think, but Jalen Hertz or whoever will be sitting in that last week, not playing for your championship roster. It's really, really, really dumb. So the best quarterback schedules, give me some of the names, lay it out for me on players to pay attention to at the quarterback position. Well, speaking of Josh Allen, I think let's just throw his name out there. It's not, you know, surprising you're going to play him no matter what. But when you've got the best quarterback out there who has one of the best schedules out there, it's pretty nice. Plays Miami and Chicago the first two weeks of the playoffs. So congratulations to the Josh Allen managers. I don't even mind the Cincinnati matchup at the end of that run. I know Cincinnati is giving up, you know, slightly fewer points to the quarterback position. But Joe Burrow.